Because of all the 'dirty' patients... 
...as in, those who had been admitted as emergency cases and weren't swabbed and checked for infection before entry as operation cases are. The ward was full due to an influx of trauma patients and chances for cross contamination were not to be risked so any empty beds in wards with emergency cases weren't 'clean' enough to put routine operation patients in.
So, after having been given a hospital tag, drawn on to ensure the right limb was to be operated on, talked to by the physio and the anaesthetist and told I was 2nd on the list and due to go down in the next ten mins... I was then seen by the surgeon and told the bad news.
He only operates once a month out of our local hospital and we have a family holiday booked in 5 weeks, so the earliest I can be seen now is in 8 weeks time.
Sigh. :(